World News by Wild Rose

A growing number of South Korean beauticians are providing illegal eyebrow or lip microblading treatments in Hong Kong, with the country’s consulate issuing a warning to its citizens that practising without a proper permit breaches local laws, following an arrest earlier this year. Hong Kong immigration authorities made two arrests this year, including one last week witnessed by the South China Morning Post in which a South Korean make-up artist was apprehended while performing a treatment on a...

Former South Korean president Yoon Suk-yeol was acquitted on Friday in a case related to a marine’s drowning death in a rare reprieve in one of the criminal cases brought against him following his ousting for imposing martial law. The independent counsel’s indictment had alleged Yoon deliberately appointed former defence minister Lee Jong-Sup as his ambassador to Australia to help him leave the country and evade a criminal investigation into the death of Corporal Chae Su-geun, who drowned during...

Fund managers wading back into South Korean memory makers’ stocks got a fresh gut check after DeepSeek’s latest artificial intelligence model raised doubts on the strength of demand.

A fraying global economic order could push South Korea and Japan towards deeper trade integration, with business leaders and analysts saying the two neighbours stand to benefit from such a partnership despite lingering historical wounds. The two countries could draw closer as the era of relatively open global trade gives way to tit-for-tat tariffs and supply-chain disruptions due to conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine. SK Group chairman and Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry chairman...

South Korea is inching closer to a potentially risky military role in the Strait of Hormuz after sending a fact-finding team to the Middle East, with Seoul weighing US pressure to contribute against the threat of Iranian retaliation. The mission underscores the dilemma Seoul faces over supporting a major security ally and avoiding being dragged into a conflict it did not start. Observers argue that any deployment should be delayed, limited and conducted through a broader coalition rather than...

Seoul, Sept. 9 (Jiji Press)--South Korea will not send officials to Saturday's memorial service at the Sado Island Gold Mines, a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site in Niigata Prefecture, central Japan, it was learned Wednesday. It will be the third consecutive year of South Korea's absence from the memorial service, which honors workers at the now-defunct mines. According to a South Kor...

South Korea has identified a gas-fired power project in Texas as the first US investment under a trade deal agreed last year, a step that could help ease tensions between the two allies after months of friction over the pace of progress related to Seoul’s investment commitments.

South Korea said on Tuesday it had sent a fact-finding team to assess the situation in the Strait of Hormuz, stressing no decision had been made about potential troop deployment to the strategic waterway. Traffic through the vital shipping route has been virtually paralysed since the US-Iran war began on February 28, disrupting global energy markets. The South Korean defence ministry said it had “dispatched a fact-finding team to assess conditions on the ground in the Strait of Hormuz”. “The...

Hollywood star George Clooney and executives from US studios such as Sony Pictures and Disney were among the 200 guests that gathered in the south of France for a summit on the future of cinema on Monday. As part of the initiative, co-hosts France and south Korea have pledged 1 billion euros to safeguard against threats to the industry, particularly from AI.

Washington is pressuring a reluctant Seoul to support its naval blockade of Iran; Tehran is threatening consequences.

South Korean citizens’ groups have called for the abuse of wartime ‘comfort women’ to be recognised by Unesco, as analysts say the ongoing feud between Seoul and Tokyo threatens to upset recent improvements in their relations. They also suggest that the two nations would benefit from working together at a time of unprecedented regional and global security and economic challenges, although they admit that may be impossible. On Sunday, a coalition of South Korean citizens’ groups called on the...

We have put together stories from our coverage last weekend to help you stay informed about news across Asia and beyond. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. China will never allow any country in this world to achieve AI dominance: Victor Gao 2. Curiosity beats perfect statements, UK elite universities tell Hong Kong students 3. China’s youth job crisis drives graduates to German vocational apprenticeships 4. Rich Dad, Poor Dad author’s vast debts...

The South Korean won advanced to its strongest level in nearly two years Monday, helped by a rally in semiconductor stocks and continued foreign inflows into the country’s benchmark equity index.

A Goldman Sachs Group Inc. strategist is standing by his bullish target for South Korean stocks, saying investors underestimate how long the AI boost for the nation’s memory chipmakers will last.

O ciclo olímpico de Maria Clara Pacheco no taekwondo é quase perfeito. Neste domingo (6), a brasileira conquistou o oitavo título em nove competições desde os Jogos de Paris (França), sendo o sexto seguido. Agora, a paulista de 23 anos venceu o Grand Prix de Muju (Coreia do Sul), seguindo hegemônica na categoria até 57 quilos (kg). Maria Clara que não deu chances às quatro adversárias encarou até o título. Na final, superou a sul-coreana Kim Yu-Jin, atual campeã olímpica. Foi a quarta vitória da brasileira sobre a rival. Um dos triunfos foi justamente na decisão do título mundial, no ano passado, em Wuxi (China). Notícias relacionadas:Caio Bonfim e Maria Clara Pacheco vencem Prêmio Brasil Olímpico.Maria Clara Pacheco é campeã mundial de taekwondo na China.Jogos Mundiais Universitários: Maria Clara Pacheco é ouro no taekwondo.Em 2025, ela já tinha sido campeã em Muju, superando a própria sul-coreana na decisão. No atual ciclo, a paulista também foi ouro nos Grand Prix de Charlotte (Estados Unidos) e Roma (Itália). O evento está entre os que mais dão pontos no ranking olímpico da World Taekwondo, federação internacional da modalidade, do qual a brasileira é líder na categoria. Além de Maria Clara, o Brasil marcou presença no pódio de Muju com Henrique Marques. O fluminense de 22 anos, campeão mundial em 2025, levou o bronze na categoria até 80 kg. Ele ganhou os dois primeiros combates do dia, mas perdeu na semifinal para Raman Turavinau, de Belarus, que viria a conquistar o título na final contra o norte-americano CJ Nickolas.  

For a few seconds during Blackpink member Jennie’s headline set at Tokyo’s Summer Sonic festival last month, it looked like something had come undone. She turned away from the crowd, adjusted herself and then, the moment was gone. But online, the clip never disappeared – and more than 10 million views later, it has become the latest test of South Korea’s fight against AI-enabled sexual abuse. Fans were quick to cry deepfake, dissecting the footage frame by frame for signs of possible AI...

China and South Korea have exchanged formal protests over the highly sensitive Taiwan question and Korean unity. The two countries have been trying to improve relations in recent months, but South Korean national security adviser Wi Sung-lac said he had issued “a serious objection” after an official Chinese statement welcomed moves “towards the peaceful coexistence of the two states of South and North Korea”. Meanwhile, Beijing “lodged serious representations” with Seoul over an art event that...

South Korea is moving towards the possible deployment of naval assets to the Strait of Hormuz under mounting pressure from Washington, potentially making it one of the first US allies to contribute militarily to the strategically vital waterway, observers have said. The government has reportedly drawn up plans to deploy military assets, including a naval logistics support ship and P-8A maritime patrol aircraft, to the Strait of Hormuz. If carried out, the deployment would mark South Korea’s...

South Korea is considering sending military assets to the Strait of Hormuz to support freedom of navigation, media reported Thursday, though Seoul denied it had decided on a deployment. Iran launched strikes on American military targets in the Gulf, in retaliation for an attack that killed four people at a wedding on Tuesday night. Follow our liveblog for the latest updates.

Galaxy Robot Park is a 16,500-square-meter venue in South Korea, with attractions including humanoid robots dancing to K-pop hits.

Washington is considering using Japanese, South Korean or Turkish frigate designs to expand the country’s naval fleet as the American shipbuilding industry struggles to meet demand, according to US media reports. The move comes after President Donald Trump signed a National Security Presidential Memorandum on August 13 calling for the use of foreign shipbuilding capacity and investment. However, the plan is likely to face strong opposition in Congress. Potential contenders for the US Navy’s new...

South Korea’s foreign-exchange reserves rose by a record $14.33 billion in August, driven by a jump in commercial banks’ foreign-currency deposits at the central bank.